America takes gold with the amount of guns owned, of gun-related injuries, and of working officers. Some blame parental supervision, some blame rock n roll stars like Marilyn Manson, but Moore's rooted reasoning is the medias role in portraying a 'culture of fear' that leads us to feelings that being armed is necessary for survival.
The Columbine school shooting is ranked the fourth deadliest in the United States. Thirteen people were killed and 24 were injured. This shooting provoked issues such as gun availability, violence in video games, bullying, school security, and many more. As most Americans watched this terrifying, heart wrenching event unfold, many felt that it was necessary to purchase weapons for their own safety. Below is a video of an Oklahoma teen mom who shot and killed an intruder. The way I interpreted this is if this women was not armed, her and her baby would not be alive.
News making national headlines like this one is just one example of why we feel the need to fear our lives and to protect our family. Moreover, websites such as LearnAboutGuns.com also justifies and glamorizes the advantage to owning a gun. This website author writes about massacres such as Columbine and the Virgina Tech shooting and offers unsolicitied advice to prevent tragedies in the future. "Perhaps if the teachers [of Columbine] had been given the option to voluntarily receive training and a concealed handgun to defend themselves and their students, this tragedy could have been averted or at least lessened".............
I find it appalling that this man actually thinks that if every individual were armed then all of our problems would be solved. If teachers started to bring guns to school I believe it would further demolish our sense of rationality and our view of a community. Perhaps if we were not bombarded with fearful messages this tragedy could have been "averted or at least lessened".
http://www.learnaboutguns.com/2008/04/30/the-flawed-reasoning-behind-gun-free-zones/
Shannon,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that it is "appalling that this man actually thinks that if every individual were armed then all of our problems would be solved." Rather, the opposite would more likely be true - there would almost certainly be much more violence and death if every U.S. citizen carried a firearm than if no U.S. citizen had a firearm! However, I do support our constitutional right to bear arms and I believe it is important that this right should be protected, particularly since law enforcement officers (government employees) are able to carry firearms. Yet I do agree with you that constantly being suspicious of the people around you does not foster a healthy sense of community or well-being for the people of this country. It is indeed sad that so many people believe that a gun is a necessary component of a safe and happy home - and that they are actually *likely* to come into a situation where they would need to kill or seriously injure (or at least threaten) another human being in order to insure their own or their family's safety and survival. However, Moore pointed out in this documentary that other countries such as Canada have as much access to violent media such as movies, TV, and video games. Certainly it can't be just the content of our local news programs that is fostering this belief and fear in U.S. citizens - so what else could it be? It can't be *only* the media. I believe Moore was trying to get at this point through his film: that it must be something deeply and psychologically rooted in our culture that makes us behave differently with guns than other people.
-Julia
I also do support our right to bear arms, 100%. I just feel like in comparison to other countries, we (some people) are not rational enough to have such easy access to weapons. When Moore was interviewing Canadians they seemed so relaxed and happy. On the contrary, as we have been discussing in class, our culture is filled with fear, for probably multiple reasons. Like you said, Moore was trying to get at a very deep point in this film, that is must be something "deeply and psychologically rooted in our culture that makes us behave differently with guns than other people".
ReplyDeleteYour comments are definitely furthering my understanding for this class! thannnkkk you!